SPRING OF HOPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00318R000100780049-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 17, 2013
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: May 2, 1961
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

EAL Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/17: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100780049-0
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JOURNAL
Circ.: e. 32,642
S. 134,524
Spring of Hope
MUCH national soul-searching This is a period of national
is going on in Congress, among self = examination at home and
political leaders generally, in the abroad. Thoughtful Americans
over the
n
rn not onl
y
ce
press, from the pulpit, and express co
deteriorating international situa-
wherever thoughtful people gath- tion but also over the evidences
er, centering around the role of of a moral breakdown at home-
a free society attempting to cope the quiz riggings, the scandal of
with the challenge of a closed the regulatory agencies, bid-rig-
totalitarian society in a cold war. ging in violation of antitrust
For example, there are x laws, the unmet and sometimes
L~al even unrecognized needs in edu-
ings of a shake-up in the'
Infe'fllg-q " - Agency in the a e cation, the pockets of chronic
of the MEn. invasion attempt economic distress, the nagging
that-19-61:- - percentage of unemployment, the
There is the question of the heedless waste and despoliation
CIA's continued role in govern- of our natural resources and
ment. Is it to be strictly an in- even, in some cases, the declin-
telligence-gathering operation or ing quality of American - made
is it to engage also in semi- products.
military operations as it evident- Does our national affluence,
ly did in the Cuban invasion then, rest upon a jerry - built
attempt? structure? This is a question ex-
Can, the press (in which cate- plored by popular sociologists {
gory radio and television must be and others who themselves have
included) really foreclose discus- become affluent by examining
sion and publication of informa- and popularizing the ills of U. S.
tion which, while it may prove society.
embarrassing to the Administra- Taking the optimistic view, it
Lion and the country, is neces- is possible to state that unless
sary for the political life of a the evils are diagnosed, they
free people? Where can the line can never be cured. Much has
be drawn really, and who is been said to the effect that ours
capable of deciding where to is a complacent, a "completed"
draw the line? . society. There is daily evidence
Can Congress exerci'tt that this is not a completed
jud ggisla.ion, par ~u' society and that there is little
lar egislation of appropria- room for complacency.
Lions, if only a handful of mem It was never more true to say
bers have even a r"e,, ry that this generation of Americans
knowledge of what `a government has a rendezvous with destiny.
agency does - especially an Perhaps, before the spring tide
gency s ~t)?q, CIA. which of new achievements, in a world
las a budget stimated to run order based on freedom and'
anywhere from one to two billion justice, must come the winter of
dollars a year? An et can a our discontent. The point is, no
man like Allen s pe 9rm prudent man stands around in
tlge -"duties he has been called freezing weather without a coat
upon to perform if he rn,u t be doing nothing. That way, he may
hauled before ;cpngressional com- catch his death before spring
mittees to explain what he has ever comes.
been doing? -, ~_ -
sjj~qquestions to a
democracy aceia chal-
lenge to its survival in an un-
declared war, one no less vicious,
fqr being undeclared.
~L -
This editorial also appeared in
the following other newspaper :
,CHAMPAIGN COURIER, ILL. - MAY 2, 1961
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/05/17: CIA-RDP67-00318R000100780049-0